The endless wave of demons crashed into the city, reducing buildings to dust and tearing the landscape apart.
Before I could even process the chaos, Kurayami seized my wrist and pulled me upward. We shot through the air, rising above the destruction in a matter of seconds. From up here, the city looked empty—like no civilians, no movement, no nothing.
It felt wrong.
"Hold on, Kurogane!" Kurayami shouted, his voice cutting through the destruction of collapsing buildings.
He moved like a streak of shadow, avoiding falling buildings while cutting down any demon that appeared in our path. His speed made it hard to breathe—and I began to lose consciousness.
With a sudden halt, he dragged me toward another part of the city and let go.
I crashed down hard and looked up.
A massive old man stood ahead of me—bald, heavily built, and radiating a quiet intimidating presence that somehow felt more dangerous than the demons themselves. Beside him was a figure wearing a torn, uneven hat, his arms entirely metallic. Behind them stood twenty-six unfamiliar individuals… and among them, the priest I'd met earlier.
Kurayami stepped forward, calm despite everything.
"It's never this many. Something's wrong today. You all sense it too, don't you?"
The man in the hat replied, his voice cold and robotic.
"Whatever the reason might be, we must end this quickly."
I stepped closer.
"What is this place? Where are all the people?"
Kurayami answered gently.
"They're safe. Everyone's in the underground chamber. Only fighters stay above ground… So, it's just us."
Relief washed through me—briefly.
"But… can we really fight off this many demons?"
A familiar spark lit up in his eyes.
"Leave it to us."
They were about to charge when I blurted out, "Wait! I want to come too!"
Kurayami casually said.
"You'll just get in the way. You said your hand did something weird, but you can't even activate it."
"I can try," I insisted. "Maybe I'll figure it out."
He sighed. "Fine. Do what you want. Just try not to die."
Before I could reply, they vanished—leaving only their afterimages behind in the air. It was so fast my eyes couldn't even process it.
I ran. Through ruins, across fallen structures, chasing after the fading echoes of their movement. But the demons were being killed too quickly; every time I approached one, it already had fallen, cut into pieces by forces far beyond my reach.
Eventually, I found myself standing alone in the center of the broken city.
"...Amazing. It hasn't even been five minutes, and they've wiped out thousands."
I was catching my breath when something slammed me. I hit the ground and slid across the other side as Kurayami's blade clashed with something metallic—spiked chains, recoiling back towards the demon.
The demon caught the chains effortlessly, letting them coil around his body as if they were part of him.
Kurayami's face brightens.
"You're different from the rest… much stronger than the undeveloped demons we've been clearing all this time."
He was right. This demon wasn't like the rest—not even like the one that killed my friends either. His sharp silver hair stood on end like sharp spikes, pale red eyes glowing with a twisted motive, and chains wrapped around him like living armor. Everything about him felt… wrong.
He spoke with a wide, warped grin—far too human for comfort.
Just the two of you? Perfect! This won't take long. I'll finish you first, then deal with the rest!
He raised his hands, and the chains snapped forward, slicing through the air.
Kurayami stepped in front of me, his blade flashing once as he deflected the attack with barely any effort.
"First Slash!"
A massive wave of darkness erupted from his sword, breaking the ground as it struck the demon and hurled him backward.
"That was powerful," the demon muttered almost casually—his wounds healing instantly.
He lunged forward, swinging his chain-covered arms. Waves of spiked chains lashed out endlessly. Kurayami deflected each strike, sparks exploding across the broken streets.
And again, I felt useless.
Completely dependent. Completely powerless.
My legs shook as I tried to stand.
"Hahahahaha! Come on! I know you've got more than this!" the demon taunted.
Then—I saw an opening.
Without thinking, I sprinted forward and slammed my shoulder into him, trying to push him and give Kurayami an opening to attack.
But he caught me instantly.
His grip tightened, and he leaned in close, eyes filled with rage.
"You think I forgot about you?"
His chains recoiled, aiming directly for my chest—
But Kurayami's blade cut clean through the demon's wrist.
The severed hand hit the ground.
I stumbled back, using the distraction to slip away. As soon as I did, Kurayami moved.
For a split second, his entire body turned pitch-black.
He stood in front of the demon, sword aimed as if ready to pierce him.
In the next instant, he was behind the demon in the exact same stance—
Only now his body had turned completely white.
It was like he'd passed through the demon without even crossing the space between.
"Seventh Slash."
The demon froze. A transparent, glass-like wall formed around him, encasing him completely.
Silence.
Then the "glass" shattered.
Seven fragments broke off, each slicing through his body with perfect precision. They dissolved into tiny fragments and drifted upwards into the sky.
What remained was the corpse—split into seven pieces. Arms, legs, torso, head… each separated as if he cut the dimensions around him to slice him directly without having to deal with his chains.
Kurayami looked at me and smiled. His body is no longer glowing.
"Hell yeah. Thanks for the opening—you delivered the perfect setup for one of my most lethal attacks. I can only use it on one single target, so I don't rely on it much since I mostly have to deal with groups of demons."
I started sweating from the aftershock of his attack.
"What… what even was that?"
He lifted his blade slightly, darkness still humming across the edge.
"My Seventh Slash. I concentrate all my darkness at the tip instead of spreading it across the blade. That creates a force strong enough to devour light itself—what you just saw was an afterimage of light itself being erased temporarily."
He tapped the flat of the sword.
"But it only works if I strike seven vital points before they regenerate. Miss even one… and the target survives."
I looked at the corpse, then at the ruined city. The battlefield was silent now—the others had already cleared the rest. I sat down beside the shattered remains of a building.
"Is it over?" I asked, with slight disappointment in my voice.
Kurayami answered with his usual energy.
"For now, yeah. But they could come back stronger at any moment."
Soon, everyone gathered, and I overheard what they were saying. They also faced demons like ours who could talk and were insanely strong. I heard they managed to get details out of them about the demon king's plan.
When the meeting finally ended and the others left the place, only Kurayami and I remained in the area where we were standing. He noticed the frustration in my expression and tried to cheer me up with his usual enthusiasm.
"Hey, don't look so down! I'll be heading out for a while, and once I find her and bring her back, she'll be the key to defeating the Demon King."
I began to stare at my hands.
"Then I'm coming with you," I said. I want to understand that power. The one I used when that demon killed my friends."
Kurayami blinked, confused for a second.
"So? If you wanna come, then come."
I froze. "…Wait, seriously? Just like that?"
His grin stretched wide.
"Yeah. You helped me today. You're no pushover. We leave tomorrow morning—don't be late."
"Yes, sir!" I said, giving an instinctive, awkward salute.
Morning came fast. The massive city gates were opened, sunlight spilling across the path ahead. Kurayami stepped forward confidently, and I followed.
Standing near the gates, a weight settled in my chest—a mix of fear and determination.
From this moment on, I knew my journey would be long… and I needed to be ready for anything.
I wasn't going to let Kurayami down.
Together, we stepped beyond the walls—
And our new journey began!